I want one

"The MiG-23 comes with its tow bar"

Danny, weren't you asking about a good tow vehicle??? well, she may not be the most manouverable when reversing, but i don't think you'd have any lack of power.

Sam.

I think his espresso trailer would get well and truly roasted if you put it behind that thing!

put a sack of green beans on the roof of the trailer and they'll be nice and freshly roasted when you arrive.

Regards. Mark.

Think we can safely presume the coffee will be hot!

I saw it when it was posted a day or so ago. I would love it just for flying - sod the espresso bar. I have experience of hang gliders and chipmunk trainers - will this do or do I have to pass a test or something? I had a look at the DVLA online written test samples but can only find them for cars an' bikes an' lorries - nothing about Mig fighters :( At least it's a bit more manouvreable than the Vulcan Bomber for sale recently...

Oooh but not nearly as sexy... Vulcan Bombers... mmmm yum!

saw one at an airshow once, probably the most impressive flying thing I've ever seen. and the noise as it did a stall-turn. ooo mama.

Regards. Mark.

The Harrier comes a close second I think, still a very impressive bit of kit. The F-16 I saw at the same show wasn't that impressive a spectacle even though it's a very capable machine, the bulk, shape and noise of the Vulcan combined with the age and the manoeverability is hard to beat, and the Harrier is just made to please crowds. Neither are the best from an operational perspective of course ;-)

Ok, so what about the Nimrod? A very impressive sight, seeing one get chucked around at relatively low level considering its age, size etc. Badger.

Concorde

David

Doesn't look "special" to me, it looks like a passenger aircraft, the Vulcan looks like a space ship and the harrier looks like a normal plane but flies like a helicopter, so they've got the magic!

indeed. quite a thing concorde, was ahead of it's time even when they stopped using them after, what was it? must be 30 years.

Regards. Mark.

On or around Fri, 3 Jun 2005 15:29:48 +0100, Ian Rawlings enlightened us thusly:

That's cos it is a passenger aircraft. Previously DeHavilland Comet, IIRC, and, as jetliners go, quite a pretty thing.

On or around Fri, 03 Jun 2005 15:55:39 +0100, MVP enlightened us thusly:

first flights in 1969, first commercial flight in 1976.

Indeed, Austin, right on the nail as usual. Then it became (for a short time) the Hawker-Siddley HS801, then BAe took over and kept the Comet name when the RAF used the Comet 4 with Transport Command. Even for all the extra "bits" bolted onto it when it was converted to the original Nimrod, it is still quite a pretty aircraft I feel. The fact that they chopped out a chunk of fuselage when designing the Nimrod from the Comet only served to give it a more purposefull look. Yes, the Vulcan was an awesome machine, but it had only one role in life, hence it's demise. The Nimrod has many roles and continues to adapt to new tasks, hence its longevity. It can't be far off being one of (if not the) longest serving RAF aircraft currently in service?? Still going strong and about to be replaced by a Mk4 version which is actually a rebuilt aircraft utilising the original Nimrod MR Mk2 fuselage! The Harrier is indeed impressive, but a tad fickle also. No real potential for backup when encountering simple things like birdstrikes, due to a single engine with a massive diameter, easily damaged, fan. Bear in mind also, it wouldn't exist today if the US Marines hadn't taken the original idea on board and developed it, then sold "our" idea back to us when we decided that we really did want to have it after all!!

Badger.

Yes - absolutely correct. Interesting that the long term UK maritime reconnaissance aircraft is a development of an unsuccessful airliner, and so is equivalent the U.S. plane, the Orion, which was a development of the Lockheed Electra turboprop, which was unsuccessful in the U.S. due to a tendency for the wings to fall off in early models (very successful in a few other places such as Australia where there were none of the early models).

On or around Fri, 3 Jun 2005 20:43:46 +0000 (UTC), "Badger" enlightened us thusly:

Me dad worked at Hawker Aircraft (was apprenticed there, also) when they were doing the early development of what became the Harrier.

Nothing else really does what the harrier will do, mind, which is probably why it's survived so long.

The yanks are sorting something out though, they had two companies competing to produce a more modern equivalent, although IIRC both of them were pig ugly planes.

Saw A program on the Comet a little while back. It was only unsuccessful cos they developed a habit of falling out of the sky and this was due to a change in the process of fixing in the windows.